In my 16 years running a company of for-hire senior level Door Openers®, we’ve learned a thing or two about hiring the right salespeople. Most business owners and sales VPs know the difference between hunters and farmers. What they don’t know is that not all hunters were created equally. Some are great at going on meetings and closing sales while others are great at opening doors. In my experience, few are great at both. If your company needs one and interviews for the other the result can be an expensive mis-hire. This explains why so many hunters fail in new sales roles…they weren’t the right kind of hunter for the job.
To become better at hiring the right hunters you will need to know a few key secrets. A spot on job description focusing on pinpointing sellers who are intuitively great and experienced at initiating relationships as well as asking strategic interview questions are the ticket. A few key questions to ask include:
- Tell me about a time you grew a territory from scratch. What challenges did you face and how did you succeed?
- What’s your approach to starting relationships with new prospects? How do you engage them in conversation and pique curiosity?
- What do you love about sales?
- If a prospect's assistant blocked you from a decision maker what would you do?
- If a prospect says, “I am going to continue to work with my current vendor, thanks anyway,” what do you do next?
- If a prospect has not responded to you via email or voicemail after 5-6 touch points, how do you get in anyway?
- When do you give up on a prospect?
Including these questions (and knowing what to listen for) will help you be more successful in hiring the right hunters. With the right sellers on board, success is inevitable.
Caryn Kopp is the Chief Door Opener® at Kopp Consulting, whose Door Opener® Service helps clients get in the door for initial meetings with high level, hard-to-reach prospect decision makers. Kopp Consulting is recognized on the Inc. 5000 list, was named one of NJ's 50 Fastest Growing Companies and was named Sales Outsourcing Provider of the Year. Caryn’s book, Biz Dev Done Right, co-authored with Carl Gould, is an Amazon best seller. She is also the author of The Path to The Cash!® The Words You NEED to Bypass Those Darned Prospect Objections and is a faculty member of Gazelles Growth Institute. Reach her at www.koppconsultingusa.com
